Well this Saturday we are back in a regular venue
Saturday 26th October
The Queens Hotel
Accrington
We like playing this one it’s been good to us.
Last week we played locally – The Open Arms in Birkenhead. I’m not sure why we bothered, I doubt most people would have noticed or cared if we had played one chord all night. It can be somewhat depressing and hard work when it’s like that. It all goes to prove that it is the audience that make a gig good or bad. Assuming the band play ok of course which we generally do.
Hopefully this week in Accrington will be a good one, two wasted nights on the run is enough?
I am starting to question why I continue to do this but I know as soon as we do a good gig then I will remember. Fingers crossed.
As I indicated last week I have traded the Marshall JCM8000 combo for a Tokai Les Paul copy. Not actually used it in anger yet, maybe this Saturday. Looks the business though and sounded ok when given a brief twang through the amp. In fact it seems easier to play than I remember my genuine Les Paul was.
I still need to send out copies of the last single to the radio and media. Maybe I will get around to it this week.
Speaking of singles, I have passed some of my earlier solo tracks to Russ (Cottier) to see if he can weave any magic and remaster them to make them suitable for release. I have decided to release them under my own name as an EP. They aren’t really songs that fit into the Clan category so there is no conflict of interest.
I’ll let you know.
I think I have mentioned this before but every now and again I am told I look like other people. Quite a long list actually. Normally it is the same people but every now and again a different one crops up – this week I was told I resembled Ray Romano the U.S. comedian best known in the UK from Everybody loves Raymond. Not for me to say – you decide?
Last Week I mentioned I might pop along to the Swinging Arm on Sunday afternoon to see T.Rex Tribute “The Rex”. Well I duly popped along for the advertised start time of 4:00pm and was confronted by an empty stage. Now I am fully aware that bands rarely start at the advertised time, normally it is a ploy by the venue to make people drink more but for the band not to be there I thought was pretty poor. They drifted in about 4:45 and finally started at 5:30. So rather disappointingly I only had time to see/hear the first four numbers before I had to leave. At this point they certainly weren’t anything special. So I never did find out the set list (which is why I went) or whether they went down well. I just thought it was all a bit amateur and if they want to be a serious Tribute they need to get a lot better and quickly.
Still, who am I am to comment? ** Update: Since writing this I have discovered they have been together since 2004, which I find really hard to believe.
The weather was a bit odd last weekend; it was displayed as 23 degrees in my car on Saturday afternoon. That is not what you expect in October although very welcome. It poured with rain later of course but that’s ok.
Rants
Ok – Corned beef tins. Why are they the only tin that still has a key provided to open it? Apart from the key often breaking or failing to work the opened tin has to be one of the most dangerous things in the kitchen. I am amazed that given health and safety regulations these days they are still allowed. I’m quite partial to a bit of corned beef as well. I would love to hear the logic behind the tins though. The shape is odd as well.
What is it about the magazines in Dentists and Doctors waiting rooms? I only mention this as I had my regular dental check up this week, no problems. For some reason they either assume all their clients have a fascination with used car prices or local county life. To be fair I was pleasantly surprised by the inclusion this week of the Sunday Times Travel magazine but annoyingly I was half way through an article on a rail journey from New Orleans to San Francisco when I was called in. I did consider going back into the waiting room to finish reading it after the appointment but I don’t think anyone is keen on spending more time in the dentists than necessary.
QVC and other similar programs. Just like those magazines that come through the door you find yourself looking and then starting to think to yourself how actually that could be useful and that it is quite a good deal. Before you know it you are on the phone and it doesn’t matter as you can have it on a 30 day trial with a no questions asked money back no obligation basis. Frightening. So if you are in the market for a screwdriver with a built in torch or an emergency USB battery pack you know where to look.
Here’s a thing, ever used a debit card somewhere and had the machine fail part way through the transaction. Well be careful because I was somewhere recently and they tried twice to complete the transaction. I ended up paying cash but it appears that although the transactions were cancelled the money for the transaction still disappears from your account for a few days. It magically reappears after about five days but there is the potential for you to suffer with cash flow issues in the meantime especially if they have tried a few times. So where does it go? Well nowhere really but it is allocated ready to be matched up with the vendors sales receipts which never happens as the vendor voids the transaction. So be aware of this next time they void a sale on your card.
I would imagine it happens on credit cards as well.
Music
Ok, so what have I been listening to recently? Well it sounds vain; maybe it is, but mainly my own music. Not totally in order to satisfy my own ego I have been searching through old recordings etc to see what I can potentially release, re-record etc. it’s been quite good fun actually.
I have found some hidden gems I had forgotten about, some I can’t even remember recording plus some total rubbish of course.
So who knows? One day “Sinner Raise Hell” may get a digital release, stranger things have happened.
However until then why not put on a copy of “Pies, Pasties and Rock ‘n’ Roll” as I did this week. It’s really not bad at all.
Current Listening – Craig McDonald – Pies, Pasties and Rock n’ Roll. Still available from Itunes!
Until next week
Keep rockin’
Craig